Sly 5: Return of the Thievious Raccoonus
by Fanus Obscurus
Summary: Alright, my first fic. This is a story that I am also publishing on the Sly Cooper Fanfiction wiki. This is my vision of Sly 5, a darker tale of the raccoon's adventures. I wish not to give away to much, so read away fair readers. Also, while not listed, this will include romance and a bit of whatever I decide to add. Reviews are appreciated. Bugs fixed, I'm back in business.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, fanfiction, this is Fanus Obscurus here, with fantastic news! I am pleased to present Chapter one of my hopefully epically long fan fiction version of Sly 5. The Title of this work?

Sly 5

Return of the Thievious Raccoonus

Ch 1: Prologue

A Dark and Stormy Night pt.1

The Storm Begins

Time: 12:00 am., Sunday, June 23, 2013. Approximately 3 months after the events of Thieves in Time.

Location: Overlooking the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

The world was normal. Well, as normal as a world of anthropomorphic animals inhabiting the modern world can be. The world had not seen a true war since World War II. Terrorist was nearly extinct after the death of several major leaders and factions due to the "accidental" detonation of over 2,000 weapons caches that had made their ways int the hands off extremist groups world wide, thanks to a brilliant counter terrorism think tank's idea.. The economy of the world had stabilized due to a massive out break of common sense around the globe. The crime rate in Paris was down to. Once, it seemed everyday there would be news of another vigilante robbery by the famous, or, depending upon one's morals, infamous Sly Cooper. Not a shred of news had been said about him in over 3 years after his last round of sightings in seemingly random locations across the world. But he wasn't the only disappearing act that had been heard of lately.

About 2 months ago, the world famous Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox, know to some as Old Ironsides, or to some that made the mistake of getting her mad, The Latino A-Bomb, was revealed to be retiring from her job as the most famous Interpol Inspector of our time. Many theories flew about the reason. Some say that she just wished to retire to her native Spain, others that the lack of a worthy foe to hunt left her feeling sad, no longer feeling the true thrill of the hunt. The official reason was that after after an office party celebrating the three year anniversary of Cooper's disappearance, a dozen drunken officers approached her with her with "malicious intent". After all was said and done, the Inspector had left 8 of them wheelchair bound, and the other four bed ridden for the next three weeks. "Feeling disgusted" by this "lack of self control" she turned in her badge, but due to her record, was allowed to keep her side arm. About three days after this, she disappeared off the grid. The next day, papers across Paris were plastered with news of the return of Sly Cooper. A notorious group of art thieves were found bound and gagged inside their ware house, surrounded by their ill-gotten goods. And place on top of where the the crown jewel of the collection, the Mona Lisa itself, formerly stood was the calling card know to criminals world wide. But, later, when the Mona Lisa was found hanging inside the Louvre as if it had never disappeared, the fake lying beside it was a different card. Indeed, the police were wrong on the first card to. Instead of the blue masked raccoon that was taboo to mention among criminals round the globe, the card was of a fox, masked in the same blue mask of the Cooper card. When interrogated, the thieves said they were attacked by a scarlet vixen, "that fought like the devil tits self." They said that bullets fired at her were dodged so quickly, it was like time slowed for her. This was puzzling, as this ability had been attributed to the elusive raccoon they first thought they sought. But the story stayed the same, a swirling scarlet vixen that out fought every man they had. Soon the Scarlet Vixen, as all the cards were soon signed, was placed right beside the legendary Cooper on Interpol's most wanted list. This vixen was never found on any security tapes, no photographs ever emerged. All that was known of her face was that she always wore a mask that completely covered her face and a form fitting red gymnast suit, littered with pockets.

Tales of her flew around until the day of this setting. It was a normal day at first. It seemed as if nothing would change that. Rumors of the Vixen being in Japan, robbing the Yakuza blind, had caused relief in the underworld of Paris. But a storm was brewing overhead. Not a cloud existed on that fateful summer day until 11:00 pm. What happened then was straight from science fiction. When the clocks of Paris struck eleven, pitch black clouds began to form over Paris. In under five minutes the City of Lights was under a cloak of darkness. Then, without warning, winds of up to 140 mph swept through the streets of Paris, picking up all in its path. The winds converged at the Eiffel Tower, fighting each other as a cyclone formed around the landmark. At 30 after, lighting, red as blood, streaked the skies under the clouds. The bolts began to strike each other as well, and began to flow with the cyclone. At exactly one minute to midnight, all the bolts began to converge on the tip of the Eiffel tower, and with a blast so bright it was seen from orbit, the winds died and the clouds dispersed with as little reason why as to why they began. A select few pondered the true meaning of this. But they had little time to guess, as at 5 minutes before midnight, a alarm went off in each of their respective abodes. This meant something significant to them. To one it was a beacon of hope. To the other, it was a rallying call to revenge.

Standing atop the famous radio tower, still crackling with power, a lone figure rose up to survey the surroundings. But to him, all was blank as he asked himself a simple question. "Where the heck am I! Who the heck am I?"

Next time on Return of the Thevious Racconus

_The past rushes forward to make the present. How have the actions of_

_some led to the path the world has taken? The ones_

_that have made this be reflect on the past_

_as the future rushes to make_

_what is what once _

_was._

_**Author's Note:**_** This is a story based of a submission I once made on the Sly Cooper Wiki. I ask no one look it up, as it outlines what path this will follow. I have the first three chapters planed out, but after that I have not decided. I will accept OC characters for roles in my story. At the end of ****chapter 3 I will have a list of what I need from the OC's I need. Note: these will not be heroes. They will be villains or comic relief characters. I will give the needs of the desired OC's and you provide the background. Then they will appear in the next chapter of the story. Now in order to keep this as mysterious as possible, I will provide a sketchy character list here. Feel free to guess at the characters. Note, this list will extend and some rolls will combine. Also, here is a free character. That's it for this chapter so stay tuned for more.**

**The amnesiac**

**The Scarlet Vixen**

**Her Gang**

**Their Pet**

**The Revenge Seeker**

**The Seeker's gang**

**(This will include Ocs of readers and my own choices, so it will extend)**

**The Constabulary**

**(Same as above listing)**

**Chief Barkley**


	2. Chapter 2 pt1

Fanus Obscurus proudly presents

The Second Chapter of his Fic

Sly 5:

Return of the Theivious Racconus

Ch2 History

A Dark and Stormy Night pt2

The Calm Before the Storm pt1

(AN: this chapter and the next will bounce between multiple points of view. Also, MoleFreak23, you have the honor of having the first fan OC to show up in this fic.I decided to make this a 2 part due to the length of the back story that is cannon.)

Third person pov: It all started on a knight like this, 16 years ago. It was a night, so normal to most. But to a select few, it was the start of their lives, born anew from the ashes of tragedy and murder. At the age of 8, minus one day, the new heir of a family was to receive his family heirloom, the Thevious Raccoonus, the ancient tome of his family trade. His name was Sylvester "Shadow" Thievious Cooper, heir to the Cooper family trade. They were the greatest line of thieves the world had ever seen. Dating back to the Pharaohs of Egypt, they were the bane of criminals throughout time. For they had a a creed, that, to any who did not understand the reason, baffled the world. They would only steal from the corrupt and other thieves, for as the first formal ancestor, Slytunkhamen II, had wrote, "It is not honorable to rob those that have worked for what they have. And besides, where is the fun in that?" And the second part of the creed applied to their unusual relations with cops throughout time. "Never harm a cop(or whatever the era had for them). Its bad for business, it's bad for your honor, and it is no fun if one does not have the thrill of the case after each heist.". But fate had other plans for this young scion. A group of five fiends came to his house that night, to steal the book of his family's legacies. Before his very eyes, he watched his entire life torn to shreds, all orchestrated by a figure that would forever haunt his nightmares. Ten years latter, with his friends backing him, he tracked down, the fiends to recover the ancestral tome. It was on this journey that he ended the life of the terror that had stalked his family for over 3000 years, the mechanical terror Clock-Werk, a being so infused with hatred that he turned his very body into machinery, just to have his will enacted upon the Coopers for years to come. But even his death in the massive Krak-Karov volcano could not end his terrible resolve. Two years latter, the parts were removed, and put on display. A group of criminals stole the parts, and the last scion of the Coopers again went out to destroy the monster once and for all. But the cost was great. His best friend lost his legs in the final battle against the monster, as his final words from the previous battle echoed across Paris, "You shall never be rid of me Cooper. I shall forever haunt you, for even in death there is no escaping me" The Gang of friends was split apart by this trauma., the gentle giant blaming him self, and vanishing into the darkness to train. It was in this year of despair that Sly (as he was more commonly called) discovered the second part of his inheritance, the Cooper Vault, an entire island, hollowed out, with caves expanding deep into the crust, filled with the most valuable treasures his family ever acquired. But the island was home of a madman who knew off its secrets. Thus Sly and his now wheelchair bound friend set out to gather a group of thieves to get into

a fortress that made Fort Knox look tike a sand castle. They tracked down the best in their fields, making friends of new allies and old enemies, and their lost ally returning to their aid. But in the final battle with the madman, the valiant last child of the Coopers was smashed into unconsciousness. The fiery Latino Vixen that had chased him for most of his life had been protected by the thief's body in this selfless act of valor and chivalry. The rage that all men fear filled the Vixen as she blasted the madman to within an inch of his life. The caverns began to crumble as she revived the infamous Raccoon. To her surprise, he remembered nothing. Seeing an opportunity to be with the man of her dreams, who had at every encounter flirted with her, the only decent man she ever knew, a true gentlemen, she caved into her deepest secrets desires and told him that he was a cop, her partner. As they escaped the island, the former thief left a message to his companions, by leaving a calling card worth trillions, in the form of his thieving gear. The gang went their ways staying in contact as they searched for their faithful leader. Then, after a few months of searching, the wheelchair bound friend found himself looking over the balconies of Paris. As he stopped on the balcony of his old enemy, he was shocked to see none other than the last Cooper child dancing with his old foe. As he stood in awe, his oldest friend turned and looked directly at him, giving him a wink, the old signal among the three friends that all was well. As the wheelchair bound friend sat in amazement, all he could say was that his old friend was a sneaky devil. The last Cooper had pulled of a disguise that would make his ancestor Thaddeus proud. He had faked the whole thing, and was with the woman of his dreams. This was three years years ago. The friends maintained informal contact with one another, until it was reveled that someone was rewriting history. The trio of the original friends set out to right the wrong. But in the process, the Vixen discovered the ruse. The trio escaped and began a journey throughout the ages. At their second stop along the time line, the Vixen joined the trio, much to her chagrin. Lets just say that a spot in the dessert was blasted to bits as sh vented her rage on the world. But, as she began to see the reasons for this adventure, as well as a second view of the Cooper ways, she warmed back up to the infamous raccoon. It seemed that all would be well in the end, until in the final battle, where the Last cooper truly disappeared. This was the second tragedy of the adventure, as the woman of the wheelchair bound friend was reveled to be one of the enemy's most important allies. This nearly shattered the turtle, but he held on. The loss of Sly did the same to the Vixen. But they held on to hope that they would be reunited. And now...

_The distant gives way to the resent._

_Discover what else has set_

_the stage for the_

_present_

_in pt_

_2._

_AN: Yes this is a 2 part chapter, this is due to the length of the cannon back story. And Mole, terry shows up next time._


	3. Chapter 2 pt2

AN Hello my wonderful readers, and welcome to the second part of Chapter 2 of my fan fiction. Now Mole, as promised, Terry will indeed appear in this chapter. As I mentioned before, this is my non cannon back story, the events of the three months after Thieves in Time. As previously mentioned, this part will be from multiple P.O.V.s. Also, I have found a bit of music that I wish to consider a bit of a theme song, Chosen One from Shadow the Hedgehog. I am not sure of who originally wrote the song, but I do not claim to own the song, Sly Cooper, or any Ocs who are not my own. And without further a due, part 2. (Note, all events unless otherwise stated end at 11pm)

Sly 5:

Return of the Thevious Raccoonus

Ch2 History

A Dark and Stormy Night pt2

The Calm Before the Storm pt2

(Chief Barkley's P.O.V.) "Oh my aching head. Today was even more of a headache then yesterday. Where did I put my cigars and scotch?" I ponder to myself. At the age of 55, many would think I was just a pencil pusher of a boss as head of the Interpol Paris branch. But as all of my employes knew, I was no desk monkey. Frequently, I would head out into the field to track down criminals, merely as a way to exercise. My name was feared by many criminal syndicates almost as much as two of my former employes. It had been sad to see Carm go, but we had our reasons. She had finally realized that she had fallen for Cooper. "Took her long enough." I mused as I poured my Clan MacGregor. "Cooper certainly had for her" I thought as I reminisced a bout the previous few years. During his stay here at Interpol, we got to know each other. Indeed, I was partly responsible for his job here. I had always viewed Carmelita as my own daughter after her parents died, and I did the same with Cooper. I was the only one that knew the truth behind his 'amnesia' besides himself. He told me the reason on day one and we became the best of friends. I had known his father back in his day and had been friends on opposite ends. Sly reminded me so much of him. I helped him out during his three year employment with us as his relationship with Carm blossomed. Then came the Le Paradox affair. Ooh boy, was Carm pissed when she radioed in. Glad she called me or else others would have fled in terror. I knew he would be there because he had told me about the Thevious Raccoonus and what was happening to it. Should I have taken Carm of duty that night? Maybe, but I couldn't due to suspicions that might have been raised. When the blimp crashed to earth after the battle with Le Paradox, both Carm and myself were heart broken. When we left the scene, she wailed for hours on end. Me, I went to my bar and downed a bottle of MacGregor during the wait for here to leave her sound proof office. I was afraid to discover that she had hung herself when I entered the room the next day. I was amazed to see he talking to the most wanted turtle on the planet. Needless to say, he looked like he had just been shot. We stood their for about a minute before he reached for his tranquilizer darts. Carm stopped him as I revealed what I knew. If Bentley had looked shocked earlier, he was dumbstruck by this. I eventually learned the reason for his visit. He told me that he believed that Sly was not dead, but either flung into the past, or somewhere random in the world. He Carm told me that she wished to help the Cooper gang in their search. I agreed. I arranged for several 'off days' over the next few months (AN I believe the final events of Sly 4 to be at least 2 months after the final fight) to assist her This went on for three months. Then a few people became suspicious of her activity as she was sighted in the same places as several members of the Cooper Gang without any assignment. Needless to say, this could have been as damning as the infamous Neyla incident. So, Bentley, Carmelita, and myself formulated a plan to remove her from their eyes. Knowing that retirement was to suspicious, we arranged for a forced retirement. The annual Cooper Is Gone party was soon to be held, marking four years of his "disappearance". Of course. We all knew he was a member of Interpol, but all bought into the story of his amnesia. We 'arranged' for several of her 'lesser liked coworkers' (see stalkers) to get drunk and run into her. She then broke them like twigs. She was then 'regrettably fired. She then joined forces with the Cooper Gang, to hunt for Sly. I helped her however I could along the way. She would still show up for visits and update me on the search. Indeed, she was due back from Osaka in the morning. Glancing at the clock, I realized that I should go to sleep, as it was almost eleven. One of the few thing I hate about Paris, all the lights. It is nearly impossible to sleep because of them. All thoughts of sleep were dashed when all of Paris was grasped in the heart of darkness.

Carmelita's P.O.V.: "If only Ringtail could see me now", I muttered under my breath. "He would be in for the shock of his life. Me the woman who has chase and hunted him across five continents, one of the most devout advocates of the law, now the leader of his band of merry outlaws. I might need my shock pistol just to bring him back to his senses." It was a rather interesting turn of events. But I had finally admitted to my feelings for him on that blimp five months ago. I had fallen in love with the most wanted raccoon on earth. I wonder what my parents and his would have thought. Then again, both sides had an interesting turn of events on that. Turns out that my dear mother was once an associate of Sly's father, a jewel thief that had aided him on several heists in Spain. It was a shocker when I found that out going through the older records of Interpol. Maybe that was why I could keep up with Sly on all of our chases, I did have a little bit of thieves blood in my veins. And in a more interesting twist of fate, I had uncovered why Sly and Chief Barkley had gotten along so well. Sly's mother had been his partner when he was still assigned to the previous Cooper's case. We both had our turnabouts in the family lines. But it was all in the past. I was no longer the Inspector known round the globe as the 'Latino A-bomb' (when I find who coined that moniker, Madre Dios, he will regret the day he was born). That much was apparent by my company aboard this little ship of ours. My outfit was almost completely different from my attire back when I was an Inspector.. I had kept the jacket as it was a part of me, just as Sly's hat and cane. Instead, I wore a red gymnast's outfit with soft soled combat boots. This was topped of with my jacket, and on my face was a mask much like Cooper's, but instead of black, it was white as snow. One would think this would hinder my when it came to stealth, but Bentley had been a busy little turtle. The entire outfit was made out of a 'chameleon fabric' that could change its color or pattern on a whim with a discreet microphone. I would simply turn it on, mutter in the color, and in seconds, I could be cloaked in darkness or hidden among the walls of a building using a few micro cams on the materiel. It was one of Bentley's best creations since the time machine. "Sly sure will be amazed when we find him", I thought. I had amassed a track record of my own, ever since my debut three months ago. Barkley, had been very helpful, destroying or altering certain records to completely cover my tracks. He was the perfect inside man, as he was also in charge of internal investigations! But it would be for naught if we couldn't find Sly. The closet we had come was a note in the Thevious Racconus that I had noticed in my studies of it. The whole Gang figured that since I was effectively the current Cooper, I would need to know the book inside out. Back in the days of Slytunkhamen Cooper II, he had noted a strange object falling from the sky. We had gone back on our fourth trip through time, but had found only a few traces of the fight. Several other bits had also turned up throughout the time line, but none looked so promising. Our most recent trip to Osaka was for a artifact that might have come into contact with Sly, given that some of Bentley's instruments had detect a temporal anomaly coming of the item. But it was just a bit wreckage from El Jeffe's army's back in feudal Japan. We had not given up hope yet though. A few minutes latter, we docked at our underground harbor in Paris. It would be another trip gone. But then, all of Bentley's instruments peaked. It was screaming to the world that a temporal anomaly was occurring. Only one thing produced this reading. Someone was time traveling. As we rushed out side the secret harbor, we saw the City of Lights, now a city wrapped in the heart of darkness. "What is coming here? And how? None of the time machines we have seen cause this." These thoughts rushed through my mind as we rushed onwards to the storm.

The Revenge Seeker's P.O.V. "Terry, have you any news to report?" I asked my most trusted henchman. He was a oddity of science in this world. He was a 6'6 Terror Bird, a beast dead since the Ice Age. Locked away inside a block of ice for over 60 million years, he was brought back to the world of the living through an experiment gone awry. In his time, he was a dictator, smarter than any other being. In our world, his intelligence was not wasted. In under a week, he had mastered numerous methods of hacking, sabotage, martial arts, and weaponry. The only oddity of him was his fascination with all forms of music. He found that it allowed better coordination of of his fighting styles and I agreed. " No mistress Penelope, my most recent journey has not yielded any more information than we already know.", he replied with his deep, almost Russian accent. " It's alright, Terry. If we can't find him, then that blasted Cooper Gang can't either. Now if you must excuse me, I have a project that needs my attention." I turned away to my most secure lab. "Yes mistress. Do you wish for me to continue the search on my own?" I mulled the thought over. " No Terry, stay here until I have a new mission for you." He turned away to his room in the lair. "I'm glad I soundproofed it," I thought." He may have some good musical tastes, but when he comes around to his metal collection, it gives me a migraine. Could be worse though. He could have had a love of rap. Ugh. I walked through the corridors of the lair, thinking over what had lead up to this day. When the Cooper Gang approached me three years ago, I leapt at the chance to join them. I had lied about only working for the best. I just needed a reason for my disappearance. Truth be told, I did have a minor crush on Sly, but Bentley was the true love of my life. I stopped myself from the memory, the reason for my following of the path of blood. The reason I must kill Sly Cooper. I have several plans in place, such as the one I am currently working on. The DNA samples I had obtained were invaluable to this project. She would be my last resort. And her frame was coming along nicely. I just hope it will never come to using Project RAPTOR. But I have noting more to do here but to merely watch the work. I headed over to my room next, a rather palatial suite. I headed to my laptop and fired up Thiefnet. I contacted one of my friends, a crazy octopus over in Tokyo. One of her chief RnD men had stolen one of his works and gone rouge. She needed several tons of resources and a few dozen of my Robo Hawks to try and hunt him. I told her that a shipment would be on the way soon, and a few grunt bots as well. I had decided that robotic henchmen were a better choice, being harder to fight and easier to acquire then regular henchmen. It also helps that they can't form a labor union or complain about suicide missions. I sent a notice over to the men and they got ready to get Li-chan's shipment ready. I thought about either heading over to the firing range to test out one of my newest weapons or continue trying to figure out who the newest member of the blasted Cooper Gang was. It was the biggest problem that I had faced in this entire operation. I had no records of her existing, no identity, and my only suspicion was far to preposterous. As I mulled over these thoughts, the main operations room buzzed me. "Yes?", I replied in a slightly annoyed tone. "Mistress, several of the sensors are receiving unusual readings.' It was one of my robots (imagine them talking like Soundwave from the original Transformers cartoon). "Which one is it?" None of the sensors acted up without reason." Temporal anomaly reader." It was one of my most important sensors of all, the rallying call of my reason for being here, the battle cry of my vengeance. "Is it reading past the level for normal activities?" "No mistress, but it is slowly rising in intensity." That was curious. "I'll be right up then." After a few minutes by monorail to save time, I arrived at the main control room. Hundreds of plasma monitors lined the walls, each detailing a separate theater of operations. I immediately headed over to the necessary monitor. "Where is it at?" I then noticed the highlighted area. "Paris? But these readings are to weak to show up from that far?" None the less, it was there, and increasing steadily. I must find the cause. "How long till this becomes a full anomaly occurs?" The mechanical goon sat for a second and replied back, " Three hours and forty-eight minutes until event reaches maximum readings. It will take two hours and forty-eight minutes for a fully loaded orbital insertion team to prepare, launch, and reach the target zone, mistress. Do you wish for me to prepare the teams and your gear?". I would need to make a note of this machines AI, as I was currently testing several types, and this one seemed the most promising so far. "Yes, M9 Gerns. Get a team ready and alert Terry. I think I will need him. I rushed of to my personal armory, getting my OD gear ready for a rapid strike. A few minutes later, I can out to find Terry waiting for me, weapons locked into the armor of the suit he wore. In another few minutes we were locked into the crash couches of the orbital insertion ship that we had boarded. It was necessary to take the Gs we would receive when the mass driver fired the SSTO unit we were in. The robots didn't need them and were merely locked into place. We braced ourselves for the launch. Note to self, sell this design to the major space agencies, this is a massive improvement (just because she is evil, doesn't mean she can't support a few good causes). The ship quickly reached escape velocity, soaring out of the atmosphere of the blue marble that is our home. The on board thruster quickly adjusted our heading north to Paris. About two and a half hours later, we re-entered the earth's atmosphere, coming in like a shooting star to avoid detection. We arrived a kilometer outside Paris, and rapidly deployed out of the drop ship. It headed off, waiting to be recalled to pick us back up. I had about a hundred grunts with me, along with Terry and my own self. A fair sized force, if I do say so myself. I checked my instruments and was shocked when the readings suddenly spiked. Within mere seconds, the readings were off the charts. "Only one thing can cause this reading," I told Terry. "Time travel mistress." I nodded in agreement. As I turned to tell the grunts to head out, I stopped as all of Paris was suddenly being cloaked in darkness born of the blackness of space.

Third Person P.O.V. This was the view of all the major parties involved. They all were on the scene of the most crucial event of the tale so far, the Anomaly. But unbeknownst to them all, a fourth person watched over this, hoping that its choices would set right the past, correct the present, and save the future.

_The tales of the past have have been told._

_Now the tale of the present must_

_rush forwards to fill the _

_void that is now._

_Time rushes_

_onwards_

_to be._

AN Alrighty then ladies and gents, Part two of Chapter Two is finished! Mole, I hope you like how I have portrayed Terry here. But a few things must be addressed. One: The Li-chan mentioned here is an OC I have based of a writer on by the same name, with her permission. Two: I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to mecha, and there will be several references throughout the Fic. Indeed, there is even one here in this chapter. Whoever finds the reference first will be noted in the next chapter. It could be a name, a character, or even just a general description. I will make this one easy on you with a clue though. It is in the Penelope section. Also, the mass driver comes from Ace Combat 5, and is not what you are looking for. This is Fanus Obscurus, signing off once more.


	4. Chapter 3

Hello, fanfiction, Fanus Obscurus is here with the next chapter. It is time to cast off the past and go forth into the future! Here we go!

Sly 5:

Return of the Thievious Raccoonus

Ch 3 Into Darkness

Zenith of the storm

Pain. All I can feel right now is pain. I stood atop of a large metal tower, looking over a city veiled in black. I tried to remember something, but nothing came to mind. I then noticed a not pined to the inside of my helmet/mask, a simple post-it-note with the words 'Activation Code: Carmelita" written on them. Being curious, I red them aloud. Suddenly the mask blazed to light as some sort of holographic HUD filled the mask. I was a bit shocked by this, as the outfit that I wore also felt much lighter than before. A image of the suit came before me and I could see what I looked like. It looked at first like I just had om a blue sweatshirt and pants, but up close was the truth. Covering the entirety of the outfit were midnight blue metal plates, a strange choice in clothes. On my shoulders were to spherical pads, roughly extending four inches off of my shoulders. But the two most in intriguing parts were my was and armament. On my head was a helmet that completely covered my face. It was made of the same metal as the plates on my shirt and looked to be a very angular stylized face, with a black mask covering the already obscured face. But stranger still was my weaponry. Sitting in two sheathes on my back was a cane, about 5 ft. in length, tipped with a handle made out of a unusual golden material. For some reason, I knew that it was not a implement for the weak, but a versatile tool and weapon. But even that was out shined by the oddity of my other weapon, a four and a half foot long katana. I unsheathed it too get a better look at it then just a image, and was greeted by a sword that felt perfectly balanced in my hand, and made out of the same metal as the plates on my shirt, but a mixture of pure black and shining silver in colors. Seeing this woke a feeling off dread in my mind that I could not hold back.

Suddenly, I was not on the tower anymore. Instead, I was a young boy, hidden in a closet, peering through a crack watching a brutal murder. A male raccoon lay on the ground as a quivering pile of flesh, barley breathing at all. A female raccoon lay behind him, so obviously dead that it was brutal. One of her arms was completely missing, and her lower abdomen was nearly sawed in half from automatic weapons fire. I also saw who was doing this. In one corner was a large frog, busily and sloppily trying to crack a safe. Standing of two the left of him was a bulldog that was so obviously on steroids that I twas ridiculous. In his hands were two oversized machine guns, reminiscent of the infamous Thompson sub-machine gun, barrels glowing red from the shear amount of fire pouring from them, creating a small mountain of casings behind him as he gleefully turned the building into splinters. A little to the right of him was a crocodile, wearing an outfit that would look appropriate on a gypsy. I nearly vomited when I saw a arm slightly jutting out of her mouth as she chewed on it like a piece of gum. Almost in the very back of the room was a huge panda, easily the most out of place person in there group. He had a look of disgust and contempt on him, not for the family dead at his feet, or the maniacs around him, but for himself, as he looked at his hands, stained with the man's blood. But standing by the doorway was something tat awoke a fear, almost ingrained into my genes, deep within my mind. I couldn't get a look at him directly, as the shadows themselves seemed to move and sway around him like they were puppets and he the puppeteer.. He loomed over everything in the room like a mountain on the horizon, always seen, but not completely. The frog muttered something about finding it, and they gathered around. A sound of ripping could be heard, and when it was done all the people left. All but the one cloaked in darkness. He came right up to where I hid, and ripped the entire side of the building out. I looked this horror in the eye, the only thing not covered by the shadows. He looked at me and laughed, in a voice all to mechanical to be made by any living think. "It would be so easy to kill you right now, young Cooper. But then again, it will prove nothing. Enjoy the last few minutes of your fathers life. He has not long left among this world of the living, and he shall soon join his forefathers, just as I have always done to your family." With that, the monstrosity walked out of the ruined building and took flight into the night. I stumbled over to my father, crying tears of pure sorrow. My father looked at me, and with his last few breaths said."Rise up, young boy, and make yourself a legend. Know this son, I have always loved you..." The last remnants of life left his tattered body, and I was left alone to weep over my loss.

I suddenly snapped back into the present, and saw that I was sobbing here as well. I pulled my self together. But in this thought, another image appeared as well. The face of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was in a cave, with a man that was hooked up to a strange machine was in front of her, crumpled in a heap, with me unconscious beside her. She tried to rouse me, to tell me something. Something, but th image fadded, with just her face eched into my mind. Then I saw what my mask had been doing this time. It had awoken everything in the HUD. A Small, disembodied woman's head appeared in the corner (use the Adjunct's voice from StarCraft). "Greetings, and welcome to the Athletic and Combat Exo-skeletal Suit powered armor. The on board medic has detected symptoms of amnesia. Lacking a treatment method. I shall fill you in on the important details as per mission orders. Firstly, you are probably wondering who you are and where you are at. You are Sylvestere 'Shadow' Theivious Cooper, last surviving member of the Cooper family, a line of thieves going back to Eygpt, who have only stolen from those who are thieves themselves. You are also the protector of the ancient manuscript know as the Thievious Raccoonus, current location unknown. However, a electronic copy is available on file. You are currently located atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Next, suit functions. This suit, commonly abbreviated as ACES, is made from an advanced synthetic metal capable of not only stopping and completely absorbing the force of a 16 in. naval rifle using just a 2 inch plate, but not be dented or transfer any energy release on impact into the wearer. It enhances you physical capabilities to unheard of levels. You are capable of lifting a ten ton weight, running indefinitely at 250mph, and leaping nearly 400 ft. vertically, or, depending on velocity, one and a half miles horizontally. The suit is powered by a advanced ultra compact fusion reactor, powered by water that it condenses from the air. The reason you are in possession of the suit however, is not in my files. Weaponry in your possession, the Cooper Cane and the gunblade, the katana on your back. With the push of a button, it converts into a marksman pistol, a precision weapon with a two mile range. Ammo capacity, unlimited. "

This was a bit to much. Here I am, with no memories besides the stuff the suit has told me and that flashback, and I am told that I am a thief with a super villain grade suit. Then again, it could be fun. However, the suit's next words took my by surprise.

"Sniper detected, drawing bead on you!"

This broke me out of my train of thought. I dogged off the side of the tower as a 15mm slug impacted the to of the tower, sparking off of the iron structure. I hurtled down the building. At About 100 ft off the ground, I grabbed my cane and latched onto the side of the tower, and using my momentum flipped up onto the frame that supports the tower. However, the sniper was already firing again. I decided to leap off the building entirely and try to get to the sniper and disable him. However, I had a few other problems. When I glanced up I saw an impossible sight. I was surrounded by an army of robots. There were about a hundred in all, but they were beefy monsters. Each one was nearly 7 ft tall according to the suit's HUD. They were humanoid, with a green color to the armor and a single red eye seated deep in the center of their heads. In one hand they all held what my HUD identified as a 30 milliliter machine cannon, and in the other was some kind of axe with a glowing red edge. A large rectangular shield was mounted on the arm with the gun, completing the rather crazy look. And standing in front of them were two smaller things, obviously alive by the way that they acted. One was a 5'8 mouse with slightly purple skin and flowing blond hair. The other was a type of bird that I couldn't identify, looking to be about 6'6 and about 200lbs of muscles He wore the same armor as the mouse, albeit larger: A breastplate and leggings mad out of what the HUD was reading as tungsten and depleted uranium. The armor was painted a dull green with red highlights on the edges. On their backs were two hard points for weaponry and and both were occupied. The mouse had the rifle from earlier, along with a belt fed 40mm grenade launcher. The bird, on the other hand, had a a 10mm assault rifle and a katana, similar to mine. The mouse spoke up first.

"Well, If it isn't a Sly Cooper. You must be Sly, he was the last with that cane." I had no clue how this wonan knew who I was. But for some reason, her voice brought to mind trust, friendship... and betrayal and a broken heart.

"Who are you?" I asked honestly. I knew that I had known her from somewhere.

"What's the game Cooper? You couldn't forget me not after what I did. Wait a minute, where did you get that gear? You had nothing of the sort when you vanished." What did she mean?

"I can't remember who you are, but get out of my way or else you will regret it!" This struck Penelope as truly odd. Even after what she had done, he had not reacted like this. Was it possible?

"This could work to my advantage, Cooper not knowing friend from foe.", she mused, and muttered something to Terry, to which he nodded eagerly. "Men, attack the scum and destroy him once and for all!" At this command the robotic grunts lunged at Sly. But he was ready. The ACES suit would make its debut here and now.

Sly unsheathed his katana and a grin crossed his covered face. If it is a fight you want, then it is a fight you shall get! ACES, let's go!"

"Roger, AI ready," replied the floating head.

Six grunts lunged forwards at him, axes held high for a overhead chop. Sly ducked around behind them with a quick burst of speed, his katana slicing through the air to fast for normal eyes to see. He emerged from behind the robots, which slid apart with four distinct cuts through each limb, rendering them useless.

Penelope was shocked. She knew that the limbs had less armor then the rest of the body, but that sword went through it like a laser through butter! These robots were made out of a much more durable and heavier form of the armor that she and Terry wore, a mix of two very strong materials, and yet it seemed insignificant as Sly lunged at a seventh bot and went straight through the armor. There was only one material that she knew off that could do this, and only three other people knew of it. Sly was not one of them. "But then how did he get a sword of it? And unless I am mistaken," she thought as ten of her men opened fire on Sly, only to see the rounds bounce off of him like water on a duck," the armor he is wearing is the same. How did he get that much of the material?"

Sly weaved through another hail of fire, as he decided to try the gun mode of the gunblade. He found the button on the side of the hilt and pressed it. A line appeared along the length of the blade and it split in two. The hilt of the blade rotated along a mechanism inside of it, turning into a curved pistol grip, with a part of it flipping out to form the trigger. The blade folded in on itself to shorten the length down to a foot long barrel, with the actual pistol barrel inside of it. This entire transformation lasted a split second. A cross hairs appeared on the HUD, but he needed no explanation of this function. Wherever the gun went, the cross hair went. Drawing a bead on a cluster of robots he pulled the trigger. When he pulled the trigger, a small particle accelerator energized a group of molecules in the air and fired them at the robots. The particle rounds went in one side of the group and out the other before dissipating a little over two miles away. Twelve robots fell to the ground, leaving Penelope with only seventy-one left. The robots had yet to even scratch Sly's suit.

This was a losing proposition. Even if her men were just robots, they took time to replace. She decided to leave. "Men, fall back to the dropship! Terry, try and hold Sly while the ship gets here!"

"With pleasure, my mistress!", bellowed Terry as he plunged into the fray. This was where he thrived, one on one, in a fight to the end. He knew that he could only hold Sly, but he also knew that his morals could be used against him, for he wouldn't kill him. He also was ready to initiate his Mistress's plan. He pulled his own blade, which was forged from the same metal as Sly's. The two foes turned and charged at each other. Sly slowed down his reactions as to not kill his opponent, while Terry just tried to by time. It was an intricate performance, with each trying to outmaneuver each other to expose the foe's weakness. Sly Dived under Terry's legs, coming up behind him to try and disarm his foe, while Terry replied by back flipping over Sly to maintain the positions. This was getting no where. So it was time for the gamble."Well, Sly, I see that you have bested my mistress's forces, but Bentley and his team will be another mater.

Bentley? Who the devil is he? If he is with these loons, then he must be bad.. I then noticed that I was distracted by this though. But the bird was no longer fighting me. Instead, he had leaped into a drop ship that had descended to pick up my foes. But he had a few more word left to say.

"You are a worthy foe, Sly Cooper! I look forward to our future fights! Disabled units, initiate code ATA, Ashes To Ashes!" At those words, the machines that I defeated started to quiver. I saw that they were beginning to rust away and turn to sand, right in front of my eyes, drifting away on the winds, leaving not a trace behind. A decent way to cover one's tracks. But then a new group came into view. A odd assortment If I ever saw one. From right to left was a large panada, accompanied by a female one that favored him considerably, both covered with what looked like Chinese fireworks. Beside him was a old koala with a walking stick and an opal that glowed in an odd contrast to the lights around us. Next to him was a purple iguana in the worst suit I had ever seen in my life. Leading the group were three individuals. A massive pink hippo that looked like he could bench press a tank was on the right of the leader. To the left was a turtle, sitting in a cross between a wheelchair, a comic book villain's gear, and a high-tech communications room. And leading them was someone I did recognize somewhat. Though she was now in a gymnast's outfit and wore a mask, she looked so much like the woman I saw that It was scary. Then The hippo spoke.

"Bentley!," At this I drew my blade again ready for combat with my new foes.

_What truths can lies hid? When used right_

_they can turn friends to foes. But can_

_the lies ever be overcome, or_

_will this be a tale of friends_

_now made foes?_

_We will_

_see._

AN: Whew, that was a long type. Well guys this is my first action scene in the story, and my first ever. I

need some feedback here. Also, I am now openly looking for a OC character. He will be the leader of a minor group of criminals that Sly will take down to get back into thieving shape. Please give a brief description of the OC, some history, the criminal act they are in, and their thugs. Like the game, there need to be two rooftop types and one flashlight type guard. Also, I made two references in this one to the mecha anime which I love so much. One is a bit obscure, so I will tell you here: when the robots self destruct in ATA, it is using the same self destruct code as the Shadow Mirror androids from Super Robot Taisen OG: The Inspectors. The one you must find is the robots that I referenced somewhat with Penelope's robo goons. Here is a hint: The father of the real robot genre. I hope to see plenty of thoughts on this one guys. Fanus Obscurus, signing off.


	5. Chapter 4

AN Well, that was certainly a cliffhanger, Sly drawing on the Gang. Sorry for the delay, I needed an OC to let sly get back in the hang of things on the thieving end, as he just earned his swordsmanship and marksmanship merits in a trial by fire. Thank you Mole for your OC, Dr. Wenzel Von Jörg. But before we get to him, a cliffhanger needs to be resolved. Also, my first kinda OC shows up. Jin King has joined the Coopers as her father's apprentice! Without further a due-

Sly 5:Return of the Theivious Raccoonus

Ch 4: The Thief's Return

Herr Dokter's Training Prescription

The cold metal that faced them shook the Cooper Gang when they saw that their leader held it. It was a bit of a shock, almost as much as him being here. Murray, oblivious to it, and just wanting to hug Sly, kept on advancing. The Gang was dumbstruck when not only did Sly grab Murray's arms, but picked him up and threw him like a ball at the Gang. Everyone scrambled as Murray flew threw them and embedded himself in a wall.

"Sly, it's us!" Was all Bentley could say. Some random gibberish flew from the Guru's mouth that translated to "Stop, you idiot!". The Kings were ducking and Panda said "I thought he was over this hatred of me!". And Dimitri was the only other to talk saying "What on earth, cracker box? I know you can't be me, but no need to kill me!".

Carmelita just stood there as Murray came flying at her, not believing that Sly would do this to his friends. Bentley pulled her away, just before she became as flat as a fur coat. Sly realized that they had no real weapons and sheathed his sword, only to draw his cane. The polished wooden pole and gleaming gold-like hook glimmered in the street lights of Paris.

"Guys, something is wrong with Sly! Lets try and knock him out and figure out what is wrong!", cried Bentley.

That implied capture by his foes, and Sly wasn't interested. The Iguana approached first, wielding some kind of ring bracelet, crackling with electricity. "Lets dan-", was all Dimitri could say before Sly was on him. Faster than anyone could track, Sly was already behind Dimitri and was flinging him at the pile that Murray was heaped in. The Guru lept at Sly, with a ancient chant flowing from his lips. Sly reached out and threw him into the same pile. The two pandas came next. "Jin, let us do this!" cried the elder one. "Right father! FIREY WHEEL!", the younger cried out as they both spun around, a wall of fire coming out of each hand. This wall flew towards him, licking at the surroundings with tongues of flame. Sly charged straight through it. Grabbing the larger panda, he threw him at the pile where the rest of the gang was. Jin approached him with hatred in her eyes, screaming that he would not hurt her father. Felling merciful, Sly merely knocked her out with his cane. That left only Bentley and the mysterious vixen standing. Bentley shook himself, trying to believe that this wasn't Sly. Carmelita was ready to take him though. Reaching to her back, she pulled one of her weapons, a steel replica of Sly's cane.

"Come on, Ringtail, lets dance!". Sly didn't know what to think of this, that face and that voice awoke something, a feeling of care and compassion. He could not bring himself to this fight. Looking at the ACES functions, he found it had smoke bombs and active cammo. He triggered both and surrounded them in a cloud of smoke. Taking advantage of his opening, he darted away, up to the roof tops of Paris. Trying to remember anything about the woman he couldn't fight. All he could envision was the same woman that he saw in his flashback. But why was she working with his foes. If she had saved him, why work with those who sought to kill him. He shook his head, needing to clear his mind. A heist should clear his mind,and he needed to get back in the swing of things.

"Hey ACES?", I called out to the suit. "Yes master?", replied the suit. "Do you have any hacking and search functions?" The suit answered back with a yes. "Good, I need you to find a thief around here that would be a easy job, just to get back in the hang of things." The suit complied and began searching all the information it could hack and find. A few minutes later he had his mark.

The target was one Dr. Wenzel Von Jörg, a rather strangely colored Cassowary. He had a black body, a neck laced with red, a blue head, and his feet, crest, and beak were all light brown. He had formerly been a very well respected doctor in his native Germany. Unfortunately, a company that he was employed at decided to market a new drug of his before it was even tested on lab rats. The result was the death of half of Germany. The company, looking to save face, reported that he had been suffering bouts of insanity and had lied about test results. The good doctor tried to tell the truth, but had several well paid psychologists brand him a delusional psychopathic fruitcake that was a danger to society and himself. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. In his mind, if they say him as a loon, they would get one. Using his incredible knowledge of chemistry, he escaped his prison and had been robing pharmaceutical companies blind. Lately, he had come into possession of some kind of weird metal eye that was worth a fortune. And that was my objective. He might be a man branded as something he was not, but all I cared about here was the eye. And I would get it.

_Sly Cooper in:_

_Herr Dokter's Thieving Remedy_

_The friends now foes, and _

_a new crime spree will_

_soon descend on the_

_the world. Men of _

_crime beware_

_the Cooper_

_child has_

_come!_

AN I am posting this as a chapter due to some problems with my computer at the moment. It is not as long as I had hoped, but it can make due. Mole, I hope you like the bit I added to the good doctor's back story. I have noticed that all Sly villains, except the main ones, always have some sympathetic back story to them. Hope you all have enjoyed the story and I hope to see your opinions on this in that box at the bottom. And a bit of a side note, Herr Dokter is the proper way of referring to a German with a doctorate in anything.


	6. Chapter 5

AN Ah, I'm finally back. Sorry it took so long, but I had a bug in my system deleting everything I typed, and family affairs prevented me from fixing it for awhile. Now, if I recall the events of the previous chapter correctly, we left off as Sly was about to have his first heist with the ACES suit. Lets see how a suit of armor that grants him super-human, er super-animal, abilities can aid him. And its time for one of the games running gags, the almighty circle button! And as before, all credit for Dr. Wenzel goes to MoleFreak23 from the Sly Cooper Wiki. And without further a due, we begin the operation.

Sly 5: Return of the Thievious Raccoonus

Ch 5: Her Dokter's Thieving Remedy

As I looked over at the warehouse district that held my mark, a familiar feeling swept through my veins, the rush of adrenaline coursing through me. This was what I lived for, this was my calling. It would be a simple heist, at least, I'm hoping that it will be. Looking at my surroundings, I could see one clear path to the building that I needed to enter. It even had most of the things I needed to use my thieving abilities on, as the mysterious blue sparkles were present all around the place. There were also some new kind of markers, but these were appearing on my HUD, not the actual area. I figured that meant that some of my suits abilities would be useful there. "Well, I'll get to those soon, now it is time to re-grasp the basics", I told myself. With that, I lunged of the roof top and and on to another.

I ran across the rooftop and to the edge, but I didn't stop, just used my speed to lunge across to the next roof top, oblivious to the guards below, and I was thankful for that. The big, burly owls had some weird kind of spray rig hooked to their backs that shot some type of acid. Fortunately, it was to heavy to let them fly. If figured my armor could take it, but I didn't want to be painfully proven wrong. I came to the edge of the next roof top on my way. It was to far to jump, as there wasn't enough room to pick up speed, even with the suit. However, there was a power line leading to the next roof, and to a thief's eyes, it would be encased in a sea of sparkles. "Time for old Tennessee Kid Cooper's Rail walk. Just jump and hit the circle button. One of these days, I need to find out what that means." I mused. But I had no time for those thoughts as my next building required wall hooks to climb. Once more, I leaped and hit whatever the circle button was to climb the wall. When I reached the top, It seemed that there was nowhere to go, as all the surrounding buildings were much taller than the one that I stood on. My suit had the answerer in the form of a grappling hook. Looking at a point on the neighboring building, I pressed the circle button to launch the grappling hook. This wasn't as vexing, as the suit literally had a button in it with a red circle on it as the trigger for whatever I had chosen to use. I swung across the gap and scaled the building. I stopped at the top when I saw a guard waiting up there, his back turned. I could see that his back pocket was glowing, meaning that he was a prime target for pick-pocketing. Silently sneaking up behind him, I pulled out my cane and slid it into his pocket and pulled out a key and a small diamond, worth a few coin, at least 200. "God thing this suit has a Theifnet account." I mumbled. Well, this guard was of no use anymore, so I might as well knock his lights out. "Lets see, uppercut into the air, place hook in collar, and spin like a tornado for Silent Obliteration." I said aloud as I did each of these steps on the poor thug. Never knew what hit him. I looked at his uniform and saw that he was the head goon for this Dokter's little army, so I figured that the key must be important. Well, I could reach the warehouse from here with the glider pack on my suit. I just run off the building, leapt forward, and hit the circle button. A quick glide latter, I was beside a locked skylight, and wouldn't you know it, the key had had seemed to fit perfectly. Slipping in, I landed in a office like room. Judging from the amount of decor, this had to be the good Dokter's room. I figured that he must keep that weird eye of his in here somewhere, probably in a wall safe. A lovely painting of the Rhine River hanging on the wall confirmed my suspicions. A four digit dial safe greeted me. Normally, this would take a bit of hunting to find the code, but my suit had an answer to this it the form of a x-ray setting that could identify what numbers each dial was set to. The number 1871 was the combination, a good one for a German.

As the door tumbled open, a sight from my flashback earlier greeted me. A single yellow metal eye, straight off the face of the monster from my memory. Images flashed in front of my eyes, of a fight above a volcano, a demented spider, a pair of green legs crushed under an immense weight. In each of these, the same woman appeared. In the first, she stood on a walkway, shooting the monster. In the second, she was strapped to the table under some machine that the eye was hooked to, the spider laughing evilly. In the last, she was... by my side, as the hippo I fought earlier tried to pry the monster's mouth open with the vixen and my help? What is with my memory? The hippo had tried to get me, so why was I trying to help him? And for that matter, who was the girl? She was in almost every flashback I had had, she must be important. A final image went before me, a large red ruby on a pedestal in a private collectors home, seemingly out of place until I took it, the same woman on my tail. That may be important, as the eye brought back some of my memories, so should that rock..I set the computer in the suit to find the ruby. It was worth a shot anyways, as it would be something new to steal, as long as a thief had it. But first, I need to e vac, as I realized that I had tried a silent alarm! This was bad. A window provided an escape route with the grappling hook to send me out. But before that, I grabed a few documents from his old company, and left my calling card, a blue raccoon's head wearing a mask, something that was feared around the world. As I went through the window, the Cassowary entered, a weird gun in hand, screaming curses in English and German. I would make sure Interpol had his location shortly, but these documents would also prove what he had said before he went criminal, that his former employers were to blame. These would find their way into Interpol's hands as well.

Dr. Wenzel's POV: "Well," I said after I had calmed down," I'm ruined. That card is is Cooper's, he has probably called the cops by now. I need to get out of here." But first, I need to make a call to someone who I knew could make use of my services. The phone rang once and was promptly picked up.

"Helo?"

"It's me, Dr. Wenzel. I remember that you had contacted me, asking for my services. Well, they are yours now, Fraulein. Cooper has returned and stolen the Clock-Werk eye."

"Come to these coordinates, I'm actually near Paris"

"Ya, Fraulein. My chemical compositions and potions are at your services, Fraulien Penelope."

Sly's POV : The on-board computer head apperaed, with information on the ruby I had seen. It was the Fire Stone of India, a massive 50 lb ruby worth several million. It had recently been stolen from Bombay by a insane mad woman by the name of Li-Chan, current location, Tokyo. Not much info was on her was pulled up, so I would do my research on her on my way to the Land of the Rising Sun.

_With memory in part whole, the last Cooper _

_shall make his way to the Orient, an _

_ancient land now on the forefront _

_of the modern day. But how_

_much is from now, and_

_how much is of the_

_future yet to be?_

_All will unfold_

_in due time._

AN: Well, a bit shorter than I liked, but hey, it was meant as a tutorial. Well, my next chapter will contain an OC of my own design, but not the one given here. Also, little challenge. Find out why the number 1871 is important to Germany. Trust me, it is easier to find out than my previous ones. Well, net time will be a bit different. Indded, some might even think it is from another story entirely. Ponder over what I meant with the next time part my good readers, and I hope to see you all soon. If you got something to say, put it all in that box at the bottom. Sayonara readers, Fannus Obscurus signing off.


	7. Chapter 6

AN: Hello my rather small reader base! It is Fanus Obscurus here with the latest update. But before I talk about it, I have a few things to explain. The reason I haven't updated recently is because I haven't had the time. School started back up for me last week. I go to a private school, so you can imagine the workload I get. Also, I am dual enrolled in college American History classes, which knock my free time down to almost zero. What I have, I have spent on myself. The only reason I have found the time to make this is because I just finished typing up a three page rough draft for a book report. Did I mention I need to finish a 800 page book by next week to have time for another book report? Ah carumba, make it all stop! But I have nothing else to do, so here I am. If you all will recall from last chapter's end authors,I promised something so crazy, so insane, that you would swear that it was from another story. Well, it says in the genre description sci-fi, so here it comes at the speed of light! Anyways, it is here that I will introduce my own OCs, and where I let the accumulated insanity of an otaku loose. Anyways, this whole section has a song to play in the background, from the same land where this is set, a song by the name of Anime Ja Nai! Disclamer: I own nothing but my own Ocs. Molefreak23 owns all the other Ocs that have so far shown there faces. Without further a due, I continue the adventure:

Sly 5

Return of the Thievious Raccoonus

Ch6 The Mystery Marksman

Third Person POV: Tokyo: a shining metropolis of technology and culture of a nation thousands of years old. Many would come for the latest technology and would stay to marvel at the ancient castles and temples of the city. But this is not what appears to those that are in it at the moment. A bubble, a force field, of pure energy had surrounded the city. If one was outside, they saw the city as it was before the bubble. Indeed, if they tried to enter the city, the entered an exact replica of the city, as it was before the bubble. But if you were truly inside it? It looked like on of the anime's that Japan was so famous for. Giant mechs, about 40ft. tall patrolled the streets as smaller, 9ft models roamed the rooftops of the surviving skyscrapers. They had appeared in the city along with the bubble and its maker, a massive flying fortress. All hope seemed lost as they took over the city. Until one day, today to be exact...

The thunderous boom could be heard throughout the dome, the sound of the monstrous 120mm guns carried by the 40ft tall mechs on full auto. Something had gained its attention. But the something in question was a bit of a special something. He was running along the top of the buildings at over 600mph, faster than sound, and certainly faster than the mecha could track him with its gun. He smirked. "This will be a fun kill", he thought. Suddenly changing directions, he leapt into the air and held his arm out. Attached to it was a rifle with a 80mm bore. Something that big was normally a tank gun. To him, it was one arm and light weight. Coming above the mech, he changed directions mid-air and fell towards the mechanical titan. The rifled barked,its monstrous rounds flying out as fast as its wielder could pull the trigger. A dozen rounds hit the same spot in the span of a second, each burrowing deeper and deeper into the titans armor, shoving the other round forward. There path extended into the middle of the monster, and their warheads took over. The machine was cleaved in two as the force of a dozen 2000lb bombs exploded into being in its belly. No one left alive in the city had seen one of the big ones taken down. Nothing had ever scratched the armor on them. But something had done far more than that.

As the survivors of the occupation gathered around the mech's remains, they saw their new beacon of hope. Standing on the remains of Tokyo Tower was a wolf. At least, that was what he looked like. He was 6"11, absolutely massive. His entire body seemed to be pure muscle not an ounce of fat was seen on him. He wore a strange suit of armor, a scale mail made of solid black metal worn of a ninja suit that covered the rest of his body entirely. The rifle that he used was still on his arm, latched directly onto the armor. On his back, two katanas jutted out from behind his shoulders. A charismatic aura surrounded him, like the leader of a mighty organization or nation. All wondered who he was and how he had arrived in the besieged town. Before they could ask him, he vanished faster than any eyes could track. Bewildered, the people looked around. All they found was a note.

"To the Noble people of Tokyo:

"You shall be free once more. The evils that contain you shall be defeated. You have an avenger. My name is Shadow. Shadow the Marksman"

Shadow"

_Who is this wolf, that shall save Tokyo?_

_How will the Cooper child get to_

_Tokyo, with this barrier in the_

_way? Who has done this to _

_the once proud city?_

_We shall find the_

_answers in due_

_time, as it_

_moves on _

_to the future._

AN: Well, sorry if it is short, but with my workload, its all I could manage in time. Also, as to the song, I recommend listening to it in Japanese. You can find it on YouTube, so look it up. Also, this new OC is going to be **very** important, so expect to se more. And he has a theme as well, which I also claim no rights to and do not own. The song is: I Am... All of me by Crush 40, from Shadow the Hedgehog. I look forward to being able to write more of this story. If you have an opinion, put it in that box below. Also, side note, I have reached 690 readers on . To each of you, I thank you very much. Fanus Obscurus, signing off once more.


	8. Chapter 7

AN: Well folks, looks like I'm back. Internet is lagging so I thought I would write the next Chapter. We left off with Shadow making his appearance in Tokyo, a city over run with giant robots! Can anyone else feel the mecha shows radiating off of me? LOL. Well, if anyone remembers the plot before he showed up, Sly is on his way to Tokyo. But what about the barrier that is preventing anyone from entering the city or leaving it? Well, I have my ways... activate DUES EX MACHINA! Also, keep Anime Ja Nai playing in the background. And now, Fanus Obscurus proudly presents:

Sly 5

Return of the Thievious Raccoonus

Ch 7: Enter the Thief

July 23rd, approximately one month after The Time Warp

Location: Outside Tokyo

Sly's POV: Well, here I was. After a month long boat ride aboard a freighter, here I was in the Land of the Rising Sun. All seemed peaceful enough, birds were singing and Sakura trees were everywhere. Until I got to the city, it looked like you typical postcard. When I got to the city, all that was associated with having one of the densest populations on earth came rushing at me. Millions were walking the streets and and the traffic was by far exceeding Manhattan. But I could feel it in my bones that something was wrong, and the ACES AI agreed with me.

"Sir, a unusual energy field is surrounding the city, in a dome that stretches up to 10 miles tall. Also, a pattern similar to what I detected when we arrived in Paris is now showing up on the scanners." Well, that was new. I had had a month to get accustomed to the suit and test out some of its functions. The scanners could detect a single ray of light at a mile and give me the source of it, or detect any power being feed into a line and from where, down to the inch. But we had yet to see anything like that again.

"Do ya think it will affect us when we enter the city?"

"Not certain, data insufficient to answer. Recommend not entering." Like that was gonna happen. That mysterious mad woman, Li-chan was in this city. That was all that I new about here. Very little info was on the net about her, save a rumor here and there. She was some kind of tech genius, so why go to crime? I should be careful, the thing in one document about her touch being lethal was burned into my mind.

I decided to tackle the city now, as I was already near the barrier. As I approached it, I could see a faint pinkish-green glimmer, like something from a cheap movie pretending to be energy. As I got closer, a unusual feeling began to crawl over me, my fur crackling with static. I looked at my hand and saw a green aura surrounding it, then it went to purple, then yellow, pink, then back to green. The energy reacted to this phenomena, and arcs reached out at each other. Green and pink met and canceled out, but the purple and yellow off of me disrupted the field. As Strange pull jerked me in before I could contemplate what had happened. Images flooded my mind as I passed through, of two strange creatures locked in battle. They were tall, one that I assumed male being 6"11, the other, I guessed female, being about 6'3. They lacked any kind of fur covering, but had patches of hair on their heads. The male had a head of brown hair, with a light coat of blonde mix in with it. The female had long hair, about 6 inches of it flowing past her shoulders, if it were all undone from her ponytail. The male was dressed in a solid black one-piece suit that covered his massive muscular frame( I guess he was around 340), with plates of red, white, and blue metal with some yellow edges over it. In his hand was a massive katana, bigger than most cities, or even countries for that matter. I then realized the scale that we we on. The earth hung in the background, with the two people being of an equal size. I then turned to the woman. She had a similar outfit on, but the plates were black and red with purple edges. She had a similar sword, and a purple bazooka that looked like the moon would fit into it. The two took turns, swinging at each other, neither giving into the others blows. It looked like an eternal stalemate. But then they began to speak.

"I will win eventually Light. Even with me being trapped in the Verse, I will be able to defeat you evil ways." The man's voice was full of hope and bravery, like a lone knight, waiting to turn the tides of battle

"Hehehehhe..." I didn't like the sound of that laugh. It sounded like someone truly insane and evil,just waiting to get their hands on anything to do harm to the world with. It frightened me to my very soul, almost as much as the monster in my flashbacks had. "Shadow, why talk with the formal names? Then again so am I. I will admit, even with you trapped in the Verse, you are still a thorn in my side, you and the rest of the Hoppers. You thought you could hid the SRW Project, you greatest weapon from me. Well, I have found the World, and you know it. Time for the war to rage on." The words echoed with a malice, but a faint air of respect could be seen, like a victor over a worthy foe.

What were these titans? What was this Verse and World that they spoke of? I Thought I might ask them, but the two began to glow, the male with all the colors of his armor, and the female absorbing all the rest of the light, and the two turning into streaks that arced away in a blinding flash.

I snapped back into reality. It was definitely one of the weirdest things I had ever seen. It seemed to last four hours, and was so vivid. I looked at my on board clock to find that a full minute had passed. Whatever happened when I went through that field had definitely taken some amount of time. I then turned to face the city...or the ruins of it. Desolation covered the area, like something from a documentary. But instead of black and white, it was in vivid living color, like a postcard from hell. Bodies were scattered everywhere, and fires raged like the cauldrons of hell in some places. Explosions could be heard and gunfire from guns of abnormal size echoed throughout the area. How could no one notice this? I turned to the barrier and saw people going about their business like it was normal. I tried to walk trough again, but the dome was solid, ungiving. Not even my katana which had sliced through everything in its path would scratch it. I turned back and saw one of the things that had done this to the once beautiful city.

It was a machine, 40 ft tall. It looked like an armored green cyclops, with a single pink eye recessed into its skull. Its body and limbs were fat and rounded, but I could tell they could break ships in two with ease. What looked like a respirator was connected to its mouth, but for no obvious reason. The shoulders were balls with four spikes sticking up out of them, and a large rectangular shield was attached to its left arm. It wore what looked like a Greek hoplite's skirt around its waist, covering part of its fat rounded legs. On its hip was a large tomahawk with a faintly glowing edge, and numerous drum magazines for the mammoth gun in its right hand. Over all it looked like it had fallen right out of an anime.

Most people would have fled in terror. Many would be racking in a fetal position at the sight of the city. Others would be curious about the machine. Some would even try to approach it to find out more about it. I did none of these things.

I grabbed my sword and charged it, screaming at the top of my lungs.

_Sly Cooper in:_

ANIME JA NAI!

_What has happened to the city?Who were _

_the people that Sly saw when he went thru_

_the shield?What is the Verse that they _

_spoke of? How does the struggle of_

_these two relate to our hero _

_and thief?All we be answered_

_in time, as it will always_

_slowly move on to the_

_conclusion of what has _

_been laid out to be._

AN: For those wondering, no, I was not on anything crazy when I came up with what happened when Sly went through the barrier. Those two are very important to the plot of this fic. Just to be clear here, if LightBlueLightning is reading this, you have arrived on the scene of battle. And who is the person known as Shadow? All in due time readers, all in due time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a katana to practice wielding, heheheh. Fanus Obscurus, signing off once more! Sayonara!


	9. Chapter 8

AN Good evening my adoring fans, all 920 of you. Normally, I would make this long, but I got two massive things in here to plan for, so I leave you with this, the next chapter! And if you wish, have Anime Jaa Nai in the background, it is the area's theme after all.

Sly 5: Return of the Thievious Raccoonus

Part 2 Anime Ja Nai

Ch8 A new friend, a new foe?

Sly's POV: I had to be nuts. I was staring down a massive mecha that was eight times my size and much more heavily armed than I was. I was charging it with a sword, for crying out loud! But it hadn't failed me yet, and I could feel my rage building as I ran at the monster. Clearly it wasn't expecting this, as it's first burst of rounds was aimed at where I was when I started. It may be big, but it was slow, almost to the point of uselessness. Whoever designed it was looking at big targets as slow as it was. It had a 120mm machine gun, so it had to be made for big things. But why the axe? It would only be useful on things its size, but I knew of nothing that big.

I got to about 50ft from it before I truly picked up speed, hitting mach 1, and leapt at the thing. A weird aura surrounded my blade as I came down on it, the same as earlier when I penetrated the barrier. The sword met the mech, and against all odds and reality itself, cleaved through the thing like butter. One minute I was 40ft up, the next, standing beside two massive hunks of scrap. I could feel as if I had avenged some of those that were lying in the piles of corpses, a feeling of relief, and a way of ridding the rage that filled me earlier. It was short lived.

Soon, I was surrounded by a horde of smaller mechs. They were very similar to the first, but much faster and smaller, at 9ft instead of 40. They were more akin to robots, due to the size. I knew I could take them, but there were at least a hundred of them, all brandishing the axes. Those might hurt, as the AI in ACES said they were radiating about 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. I knew this would be tough, but I charged on in anyways, the same cry on my lips.

Shadow's POV: "Well, this is interesting", I thought as I looked out thru my rifles sight. I had been lining up for a shot on a Zaku, when a blur went across it and cleaved it in two. Someone had taken a Zaku out with a sword, and I was one of only two people in this Verse that should have a weapon like that. Thought raced thru my mind, as I saw what could be the plan I had laid out two years prior in reply to Light's being brought to bear it's fruit. "If he was here, then she had managed to use the techs I had given her to not only send him back to here, but also arm him for the coming struggle. But was it him?" These thoughts raced thru my as I leapt across the ruined city like a bolt of lightning.

I finally came to the edge of the dome and saw what I had come for. Surrounded by 40 Zaku Armors and and the remains of 60 others was a raccoon clad in power armor in colors of blue and gray. A strong aura of all the powers that I had encountered in the Verses radiated from him. But he needed help. I could see that they had worn him out. His armor wasn't even scratched, but he was beginning to respond slightly slower. It still wasn't enough to matter for the next armor that lunged at him with its heat axe, as the blade in his hand went through it like the axe did everything else it had encountered. He could hold his own, but he was getting even more tired by the second, and more Armors had to be on the way. Throwing caution to the the wind, my hands darted to my hips with the reaction time of a master Hopper and drew my monstrous pistols. Looking at them, one wouldn't think them any bigger than a .45, until the looked at the 2 inch hole in their stomach. "Time to go guns akimbo" was the only thought I had as I leapt into action.

Sly's POV: I heard a sound, like a thunderclap, as I saw a new challenger enter the fray. He was dressed in an all black suit like a ninja, with metal scales covering the whole thing in a intricate lattice, but bending without any seems or joints in the metal. He had two pistols in his hand, barking like artillery as he arced through the air. The robots before me crumpled like cans as each shell hit them from above, crushing them into piles of scrap. Three survived without harm and turned at their new foe. I moved to aid him, but didn't see him where he had landed. I heard a thunk, and turned to see him behind the robots, a katana much like my own in his hand, as the robots slid apart, a single slice running the length of the three. He turned to me as I readied my own sword.

"Relax", he said in a accent that I assumed came from the south. I had always had an ear for accents and guessed he was from Tennessee, across the pond in America. "Anyone who is fighting these things is a friend of mine. The name is Shadow." He reached up and unfastened the helmet of his suit. I was greeted by the hardened face of a veteran wolf, solid black fur covering his face, but with a sandy blond coat running thru it. I had never seen him before, but I felt as if I had. " And judging by the cane", he continued,"I'm guessing that I just saved the world rebound master thief Sly Cooper.". I figured that he knew who I was, the cane was know round the globe. after all. I undid the helmet on the ACES suit

Shadow's POV: I knew it. The hero of this Verse had returned, and she had given him what he needed. I time, he would know why, but for now, he must know very little. The amnesia would provide that. " Do you know me from somewhere other than now and the news?", h asked me.

"No, but tales of you are spread far and wide. It looks like you are here for something, just as I am. But we can't talk here, we need to get out of here, reinforcements are on the way. I have a safe house near here that we can talk in. He nodded in agreement as we darted of for safety. I had an ally in this struggle in this Verse.

Shadow shrouded person's POV: As the final images faded from the screen, I could feel a bit of fear enter me. I thought I had sent that raccoon ages back. How had he arrived here, and with weapons like what Shadow and I used. And now they had joined forces. I never suspected that he would be hiding in my ranks, curse that Hopper. He had been working on the SRW as we struggled to bring it into our forces as the ultimate weapon in the war. Now he had sealed it, and only he could open the seals. I had a bit of his power in my hands as well though. But now, I needed to send a good friend on theifnet an e-mail. Penelope would be interested to know that Sly was here as well. A few minutes after I sent it off, she replied back, in a simple short manner. "Li-Chan, don't underestimate that raccoon. He has power the likes of which even I have never envisioned." Well, even if he had a suit, he couldn't unlock its full potential without the proper key, and I had it. Things would turn out one way or the other, but things were looking up for me. I began to laugh, the shadowy sound echoing through the fortress...

_A new friend,a new foe. How will_

_Sly deal with this. And can he_

_he trust this Shadow. And who_

_is he, that knows of Sly's _

_plight? What are these_

_Verses and powers that_

_he and Li speak of?_

_All will be found_

_in due time. _

AN Well, I have a plan for the future, and two massive buttons to hit really, really hard with a massive sledgehammer. I better polish up on the katana though, I'm gonna be needing it soon, hint hint. Who are these mysterious people that have brought there fight to Tokyo? If you think you know, there is a box down bellow for you to voice it in. By all means, go ahead. I'll try and get back to everyone on them. This has been Fanus Obscurus, signing off once more. Sayona my dear readers!


	10. Chapter 9

AN: Well, its been awhile, so I don't want to delay this any longer. Fannus Obscurus proudly presents:

Sly 5: Return of The Thievious Raccoonus

Part 2 Anime Ja Nai

Ch 9: The Manipulator

Sly's POV: He lead me across the shattered rooftops to a small building near Tokyo Tower. It was only two stories tall, but the ACES suit informed me that it was more than it appeared. We went in and to the unassuming, it was a simple Internet cafe, albeit in shambles. Shadow walked over to a wall and pulled of one of his gauntlets. For the briefest moment, I swore that there was no fur on his hand, but pale white skin instead. I figured that I was hallucinating due to what was going on outside, because when I saw it next, black fur covered the hand, with its odd light sandy blond coat. The hand went up near the wall and his fingers began to fly around the air like they were on a keyboard. When they stopped, the wall panel slid into the wall and a long staircase appeared. We began to walk down it in silence, all the questions in my mind running around like sugar crazed toddlers. Who was he? Where did he get his suit? What the hell is going on here?!

Shadow's POV: We finally arrived in my local haunt, about 400ft below the surface to block out any signals of my presence. No lights were on, save for a glow from a monitor. I turned to face Sly in the nearly dark room, and could tell that he was about to go nuts from everything that he was thinking about. I figured he had at least deserved to hear the very carefully abridged version. " Well, it think a few things need to be explained. Ask me anything, and I will answer to the best of my abilities."

"What the hell were those things? They looked like something from an anime!"

"Well, those would be grunts of the person who I'm fighting. I call them Zakus, and the small ones Zaku Armors. The big ones are a bit slow and easy to fight, but as you know, the small ones can match even your own athletic prowess. They are what laid waste to Tokyo." The truth, if not all of it.

"What is keeping everyone from seeing this? When I was outside, I saw the city as it normally is!"

Well, that answered a few of my questions. She had figured out how to reproduce the reactors, and they worked. "I'm not sure what it is made of, but it somehow projects a view of the city as it is to people that enter it." Partial truth, I doubted he would believe the reality behind the barrier."How did you get in?" I must know if it showed him anything.

"When I approached the city, my suit said it detected a massive ring of energy. When I got up close, I could partially see a field of swirling and sparkling greens and purple." He could see the energies? Well, that was one I didn't expect. The reactor must have released a pulse for him to see it, but when? "when I touched the field, arcs of energy began to fly from my suit, two greens, a purple, a weird pink, and yellow. Two different colored green ones and a purple one came off of the field and impacted the like colored ones I emitted and canceled each other out. The others touched the field and began to disintegrate it. A vacuum sucked me into the city, and a minute later, here I was"

"When you went through, did you see anything?

Sly's POV: Well, moment of truth. Do I tell him about the hallucination, or not? After what I had seen in here, I figured it would be almost normal to Shadow. " When I went through the barrier, I saw two beings, male and female. They were standing in front of the planet, with weapons in hand, each the size of the world. The woman, she sounded like a crazed god from mythology, almost completely insane sounding at times, but with intelligence in her eyes. The male was almost the opposite in terms of mentality, but with the same air of intelligence. They spoke of something called an SRW and of Verses, and you must think I'm crazy don't you?" He looked almost shocked. Did I sound like a loon or a prophet?

Shadow's POV: Well, that was more than expected. Indeed, it was almost shocking what he had heard. He will find out a few things sooner than planned, but I was not impossible to keep them obscured for a while. Things will be accelerated though. Time for a question of my own. "Do you remember anything at all before you came here? Some people have had intense memory loss after being near the field." A quick way to cover the question, and true.

" A few things, but they came from an object that I stole." A weird look, completely fake, crossed my face. He quickly explained his appearance in Paris, and his encounters there. A few things I had wished not happened, but nothing the plans had not taken into account.

" Well, that is a weird story, but weird is the norm inside this thing. So you came hear after the Fire Stone of India, the monster ruby? Well, I think I know who has it. The crazed woman who is in charge of this army of mechs. Li-Chan. I know a bit about her..."

Third Person POV: Li-Chan was an octopus, a blue ringed one, one of the deadliest creatures on earth. Unlike a lot of her kind, she had two pairs of arms tied together to act as bipedal legs. The others were free to act as she wished them to. She was a master of mechanical engineering, and was the designer of innumerable. She was once a friendly caring The two had a history of some sorts. A few years ago, they were in Prague. Shadow wouldn't say why they were there, but what he did have to was... disturbing to say the least. They had ran across the Contessa, the same monstrous spider from my flashback with the eye. Shadow managed to escape, but Li was taken in for... a visit with the not so good doctor. When Shadow blasted her out of the prison, she was begging for him to kill her to put her out of her misery. He hadn't done it. At first she was recovering well. Then one day, she snapped and wiped out a small city in Russia. She had built an army of giant anime mecha and was waging a maniacal war against the world.

Sly's POV: What Li needed the ruby for, I had no clue. But she had something of Shadow's as well. She had an electric guitar that he said was very important to fight her with. He needed my help to get it. I had no clue why he needed it, but it sounded important. We shook on our understanding of partnership. Shadow reached for a switch and flicked it. All throughout the underground base, lights flickered into life anew and a wall of monitors came to life. It looked like the war room of a major world power down here.

"If we are going to be fighting Li, we need a base, and this is the best I got." He reached for a small bottle of scotch and pulled it out, along with two small glasses. Pouring some into each glass, he raised one to me. "To our partnership." We drank on it, and the world was never the same again.

_New friends, or new foes? How does_

_Shadow know about all these things?_

_And what of this old friendship of Li?_

_What of these things that he speaks_

_of? All will be revealed in time._

AN: Well, sorry I have been a bit late, got a math teacher that thinks you need over 90 complex problems a night to do. Its been eating up a lot of my time. Well, anyone willing to come up with any thoughts on Shadow? He is about as mysterious as a room full of them. Or Li-Chan for that matter. Speaking of Li-Chan, the OC I based off of you has now finally appeared. I'm a bit nervous since you seem to be in your crazy mood again, if your most recent post is any reason to be concerned. Well, that is all I have left to write for the night. Fanus Obscurus, signing off for the night.


	11. Chapter 10

AN Mysterious Voice: It is my sad duty to inform you that this has been canc-

Me: -BREAK! (giant drill comes up out of ground with shredded metal on it) Alright, who buried me? Wait, how did you get out of the fan fic?

Li-Chan: Oh snap! RUN AWAY!

Me: Alright, run if you want, where did I... there it is. Hey Sanger? I need you to go chase this crazy woman and get her back here. Huh? Yeah, use DyGenGar. Okay, now that that has been resolved, time to continue the insanity. Fanus Obscurus proudly presents-

Sly 5: Return of the Thevious Raccoonus

Part 2: Anime Ja Nai

Ch 10: A time to play, a time to steal

Setting: A less destroyed part of Tokyo, most of the buildings intact, but twice as over run with mechs.

Sly's POV: "Alright Shadow, I'm near the building. Awful lot of those Zakus, don't you think?" It is an odd thought, stealing from someone with giant killer mecha, but something in me told me I had done weirder. "Not really Sly," came Shadows voice over the com in the ACES suit. "If Li really knew just what she had, there would probably some kind of flying battleship parked out here."

Shadow's POV: "Oh come on Shadow, it is an electric guitar. What can it do? More importantly, why do you need it? Can't you just get another?" If he only knew what it could do. " Well, lets just say it will make our chances of winning a fight against Li go up from about 10% to around 90%."

Sly's POV: "What, does rock drive her nuts or something?" Would be a funny way to defeat someone, kill em with rock.. "Well, forget why Sly, now do you have that new bit of gear I put on your ACES suit?" I looked at my waist at what I could feel was one of the weirdest things I had ever used on a heist. It was two boxes hooked up to my legs, each with an open side pointing in front of me, with a dart pointing out of it. Very weird weird, unless one was starring at a giant robot. " Now Sly, I call it 3D Movement Gear (AN: Yeah, I've been watching Attack on Titan). Basic, it provides two anchor points wherever you fire it to allow for increased acrobatic ability, and better maneuvering at high speeds, as well as being awesome. Use it to swing in around behind the mechs to get to the upper floors of the building. It should be where Li is keeping it, if my readings are correct, as they always are." Something flashed before me, a conversation with someone, saying something similar, but in a high nasally voice. It sounded so familiar...

Shadow"s POV: "Sly, ya there?" I could here a jerk on the other end. She really made these things sensitive. " Sorry, zoned out for a sec. It felt like a memory coming back to me, something in what you said." Well, it is good that some of his mind is coming back, I just hope not at the wrong time. Must have been the similarity to what Bentley always says. "Well, just try not to zone out while using the gear, the smear that was you may not like it to much."

Sly's POV: " What, you don't think I'm careful?" I could hear a bit of a chuckle. "Well, I just don't want a dead coon on my hands." With that the connection cut off. Time to see what this movement gear can do. Running start at 150mph, fire the gear, and whip around like that Spider Guy in Manhattan. Easy enough.

Third Person POV: From the ground, it looked impossible. A streak of blue moving at impossible speeds, whipping around between the buildings like he was latched on to them by a wire. But the streak was. It was a bit on the risky side, but effective at the job it did. Sly was able to use his innate abilities and augmented ones of the suit in new manners. One moment he was latching on to a hook with his can,, the next, running along the side of a building at high speeds. It was the ultimate parkour stunt.

Shadow's POV: "THIS IS AWESOME!" Well, I knew from my research that he was a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I knew I was, and I loved the 3D gear. I just hope he doesn't need to use it in combat yet. He might have the innate skills to use it, but to fight with it is another story. There was a slight beep on my wall of monitors, and two windows opened up. One was a video call, the other a file of schematics. "Hang on Sly, got something I need to look at." "Okay Shadow, I'm going to get up to the building." I said to go ahead, and turn to the call. It was a good friend of mine, over at he main base. Seeing the schematics, and the cartoonish Mole, I knew what this was about. "Password conformation, Deus Ex Machina. Hello, Mole. I take it that this concerns Unit-03 and the _Path Unto Infinity_?"

Sly's POV: After Shadow cut off the link, I made my way up to the second highest floor of the target building. Peeping in a window, I saw numerous Armor units, but of a different type than the Zaku's I had fought earlier. The build was the same, but these were blue and had a shield attached to their left arms, and a coil around their right arms. Shadow had installed a IFF database of Li's robots onto the suit, and it quickly brought up everything on my adversary, the Ground Operations Oriented Fighter (GOOF). They were 20% faster than a Zaku , had 50% more armor, and the shield had a quad 75mm automatic cannon in it, backed up by an electrified whip on the right arm, and a superheated sword on its back. Tough to fight up close, but my pistol should deal with them. But this was a smash and grab, and I don't need attention. The guitar should be about a floor up. Looking at the GOOFs, there was a path that they weren't watching that I should be able to run along. Taking my chances, I darted out when they had their mechanical backs turned. Looking around at where I was I saw the stairs leading up to the next floor. I went up them and saw an odd sign bolted on a bank vault door. "Warning, energy concentrations to high for autonomous mechs below class SR. Immediate overload of reactors will occur." Huh. Well that is an odd sign. I wondered if I should be careful, but Shadow hadn't said anything. But why was a guitar behind a vault door? Oh well, time to find a way around it. Fortunately, there was a vent nearby that lead into the room. Crawling through it, I could feel my fur stand on end, like some kind of massive electrical force was flowing through the air. As I went further through the vent a small meter that I couldn't see on my HUD was rising. A small meter that read SE readings. And it was about maxed out. There was a reason I couldn't see it, but I didn't know it yet. Further in, I could see the air begin to take on a green hue, and move like there was a fire in the room. I thought I was just seeing things again, so I ignored it. Finaly the vent opened up and I saw my prize. Or at least, I hoped the briefcase that was a foot thick had it in there. Not wanting to alert anything I was there, I decided not to contact Shadow. I turned to leave, but stopped when I saw something near the case. Two small cases of flash drives, one label Project SRA, and the other Project RAPTOR. They looked valuable, so I put them in my pack and made my escape. After placing the demo charges like Shadow asked of course.

Shadow's POV: " Alright then, so the parts for the combination are suffering delays. Unit-02 is safe with me. I should soon be able to reacquire Unit-01. And the _Path _should be coming in to the Verse soon?"

"Yeah Shadow, it will be here in time for the projected battle. I just hope we don't have a repeat of a certain incident." Mole replied in his Puertorican accent.

"Look Mole, it was an accident. I though we had worked the kinks out of the TEAM cannon. I really didn't think it would be that over powered."

"You wiped out a solar system!"

"Accidents happen Mole." Another window popped up. Sly was nearly back with the guitar, and the charges had detonated. With any luck, Li would be pretty busy when she got word of this. "Got to go Mole. Looks like we are about to get the key back."

"I hope it goes well out there. We will be ready to move operations into the sealed sections of Alaska base so he won't be able to see everything. See you soon, FO."

Meanwhile, at Li-Chan's flying fortress of doom...

Li's POV: I darted awake from what had to be the weirdest dream I had had in awhile. I was being chased by some giant mecha samurai and... what is that note by my bed? I picked it up and read the short message on the note.

"Li, if you try and bust out of the fic again, I'm throwing Sanger in there with you."

It wasn't a dream?

_With package in hand, our_

_hero returns. But what is_

_so important about a guitar?_

_What are the files? What about_

_this, escape of Li's? Who is _

_Shadow? Find out soon, as it_

_all flows along the path it takes._

AN: Thanks Sanger! I would have chased her myself, but I left my stuff in the... Oh wait, this is the AN? Whoops! Ignore everything you just read or heard! After the story of course! Well,m sorry it took so long, had a few issues. I honestly want an opinion on just what you all think of Shadow. And before you ask Mole, yes, I have base an associate of Shadow off of you. Not for any reason...maybe. Well, got to go. Fanus, signing off!


End file.
